Manchester City qualified for the fourth round of the FA Cup after losing 8-0 to Salford City in League Two on Saturday.
Salford-born James McAtee scored a second-half hat-trick on a memorable night for the youngster as Pep Guardiola’s side avoided a major upset at the Etihad.
Strikes from Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly either side of an early Divin Mubama goal put City in a dominant position in the first half, while Jack Grealish’s penalties and Doku’s excellent after the break, along with McAtee’s goals completed the match. rout.
The game has been given an extra level of spice due to the fact that members of Manchester United’s ‘Class 92’ are co-owners of the fourth-tier club. But there was to be no memorable victory for the visitors as City dominated proceedings from the start.
The eye-catching scoreline will be a welcome boost of confidence for Guardiola and his team, who have made a promising start to 2025 with three successive victories.
FULL TIME | In the hat 🎩
🩵 8-0 🔴 #ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/uVvzcCGHIs
-Manchester City (@ManCity) January 11, 2025
How the action took place
It took less than eight minutes for City to take the lead. Salford lost the ball in midfield, Matheus Nunes fed Jack Grealish who in turn played on Doku who finished into the far corner of the net.
The five thousand or so traveling fans kept their voices high despite their team falling behind early and having only 18% of possession in the first quarter of an hour.
Kylian Kouassi then cleared the ball as Nathan Ake’s header was missed off the line by Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.
Five minutes later City doubled their lead when 20-year-old debutant Mubama completed a clever move by the hosts.
Savinho’s pass found Nunes, who played the ball to Mubama for a strike.
A special moment for Divin Mubama as he marks his Man City debut with a goal! 🩵#MCISAL #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/K8mi3ITW4c
– BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 11, 2025
Kouassi then made a save from Ederson after a wild run, but it was the Premier League champions who were in control.
The young Salford striker was again at the center of the action when a neat free-kick resulted in a ball into the box that the 21-year-old should have done better with.
This failure ultimately proved costly. Moments later City increased their lead to three when the excellent Doku beat his man before cutting back to O’Reilly, who swept the ball with confidence.
Two minutes after the restart, Salford were the architects of their own downfall when a back pass from captain Curtis Tilt was collected by Mubama who played the ball back to Grealish.
But before the England international could land his shot, he was brought down by Ossama Ashley. Grealish got up and sent in the next kick for his first of the season and City’s fourth.
McAtee then scored five points shortly after the hour mark, finishing well thanks to Doku’s precise cross. Doku then helped himself to a second when he headed home after the ball was judged to have hit Tilt’s arm.
Neat finish by James McAtee 👌#MCISAL #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/LnNwiBDhBC
– BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 11, 2025
McAtee added another goal after a fine pass from Phil Foden before completing his hat-trick to add further misery to the League Two side.
Salford had a couple of half-chances and gave 16-year-old Will Wright a five-minute run-out. But City finished the rest of the competition without any problems.
